Sennheiser updated the Ambeo firmware to 1.0.237 and also overhauled the Smart Control App. It now supports not only Chromecast, but also Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect and Apple AirPlay 2. They really care about their products.

Don't you think you should have updated the title and at least noted in the comments that there was a firmware update a long time ago that solved the latency issue...? As you can see from the comments, people who watch this old review are not aware of that fact.

I have this soundbar running with my Sony 75” X950G and I don’t have these issues. I spent a day going around Sydney checking soundbars and getting them to demo them for me I ended up choosing the Sennheiser. When I first set it up with my tv I was blown away with the amount of sound filling the room and it dose amazing job of up mixing 5.1 we are watching old movies now with it. Love it!

If it has lip sync issues, all the bells and whistles aren't going to make up for that no matter how good it sounds.

I've been using mine for about a week now. It's connected to a Sammy 75Q9FN via ARC to the Ambeo's eARC...no lip sync issues at all viewing from Netflix, prime Video, FIOS TV or my Xbox1x. Expensive, but excellent sound for movies and music in a single package.

"Best Sounding Soundbar You Probably Shouldn't Buy"...but is too big and heavy to shoplift! But seriously folks, coming from the 'vintage component audio' world (Sansui receiver/amp & Klipsch R41 speakers...etc) and planning a move overseas from US, (thereby needing to slim down the belongings), I was able to find one of these for $1900 US as a barely used demo unit. UP front I'll say that I'm NOT really a movie/TV guy, so this was meant to be the all-in-one AV solution, not a "home theatre". I was impressed by the audio specs/input options & the sheer number of cones on this thing. For the few months I had it before the move, I had a Polk Audio 12" sub attached and it (the Senn) was fed by my Mac using a 1/8" to stereo RCA cable. Lemme tell you...during party time, this thing SHOOK the building! Seriously. Whether it was classic rock, industrial, rap, classical or even Merzbow (if you don't know it, look it up!), this thing really rocks with no distortion. Sounds very clean, very lively & powerful. Now living in a high-rise flat with too many neighbours, I can no longer listen at wall-shaking volume, but that's ok because this beast sounds AWESOME even at a moderate volume & WITHOUT a sub. I was in fact surprised at how well and how deeply those six 4" woofers render bass. There were a few other options I'd considered before this (the Bang & Olufsen Beosound Stage or the iFi Aurora speaker) both of which I'm certain are great products, but I'm quite happy that I went the the Senn.

I would like to know how this holds up to the B&O Beosound Stage.

Excellent review! Finally a soundbar that can rival/supplant the ML Vision soundbar! 4” drivers make such a huge difference. All other manufacturers need to take note!

ok i had a quick talk to the reviewer of the dutch magazine and this was his short and clear answer : - I did not read that review and I did not experience any latency problems, but I did speak to European colleagues who experienced the same thing. We concluded that the problem was with TVs. The solution was quickly found: the lip sync setting in the Sennheiser app makes it possible to tackle those latency problems.

You are right. I had audition others soundbar such as the complete set of Sonos Arc, Samsung HW-Q950T, LG SN11RG and Ambeo is the most musical soundbar among all of them. If Sennheiser willing to develop a seperate independant rear unit with up-firing Dolby Atmos, IMHO this Ambeo may eventually become overall champ because the main soundbar itself come with a subwoofer pre-out that can connect to an external subwoofer such as the famous REL subwoofer. Since Ambeo itself and REL both character also bias to musical. Hope Sennheiser able to see this.

That $2,500 can be put into a 7.1 surround or either a 5.1.4 or 7.1.2 Atmos/DTS:X Klipsch home theater speaker setup. If you still want a good Atmos/DTS:X soundbar, save a few hundred dollars and just get either the LG SL10YG or the Samsung Q90R.

as an Ambeo Owner now! there is no DELAY AT ALL! I also have Sony 4K TV in 2017 the X940e led, Creme de la creme of 2017 and it works great. I recommend this soundbar if money is no issue and if you want to use your own subwoofer! LOVE THIS SOUNDBAR! its sounds so beautiful Here's my take Dialogue is clear and accurate! it's not over boosted or saturated! its how you would hear dialogue if you were there in person! now it all depends on the mix! some movies just have terrible Dialogue but its very rare, and during action scenes dialogue is clear but also when its not clear its because of how it was more likely intended without vocals over boosted. You will hear and enjoy things in movies that you will never have heard before! and hear such substance! I love rewatching movies like Jurassic park, Matrix, and now I was rewatching black hawk down and I was astounded! the same with Saving Private Ryan! Then I was watching Kimi on HBO Max and I was just blown away by the clarity and just overall sound stage and presence! it is something you have to hear and experience! Having a Subwoofer is a must! you will enjoy this sound bar a lot! you will hear things in movie mixes that you never heard before! Also Ready Player One the car racing scene is just EPIC! I have a little demo I recorded with my Iphone 13 pro in 4k and the recording does not do its justice! you have to buy one and just experience it! The best sound I've heard and super super simple to setup! Here are Pros 1. Sound Stage is HUGE! Power is impressive, Volume is stellar, you can listen to this soundbar in low to high volumes and you will have an enjoyable experience. 2. Vocals sound natural and do not dominate the sound 3. Surround sound and sound bouncing off walls and ceiling is amazing! it is room dependent but its exceptional in my area 4. Real Speaker Drivers! there is no replacement for displacement and the same is with Speakers 5. It's Sennheiser! the make the best surround sound DSP for consumers 6. it comes with simple and well built controller 7. Able to use any subwoofer with a subwoofer out line, Stand alone subwoofers are always better than soundbars that are limited to their subwoofer 8. Music sounds amazing! super accurate and natural sounding! just as good as listening to 2.1 system 9. Ambeo 3D surround effects is super immersive. You will hear things you haven't heard before in many movies! 10. Different sound profiles and ability to change EQ settings for each one. 11. Having dedicated HDMI connections directly to the SOUNDBAR, being able to plug in your devices into the sound bar is huge! its non compressed and does not need to pass through ARC or EARC. So its able to push out the best CODEC without relying on our TV to process the sound codec. Cons 1. It's LARGE and HEAVY! you will more likely need another person to set this up! and I recommend mounting your TV to clear the soundbar size 2. App could be better, always have to reconnect to the bar if the app falls asleep on the phone 3. It always defaults to HDMI TV (EARC/ARC) when turning on majority of the time, so I have to use app or controller to change source to watch Xfinity 4k 4. It gets warm, so make sure you have enough room for it to breathe 5. Wish the speaker grill was magnetic so I can see the woofers in action 6. Your ears will get use to the sound and there is a break in period, it's impressive from the get go, but now dialogue is getting clearer and clearer as well as all the other details, or maybe my ears are getting more and more used to it. 7. Sennheiser Ambeo should release wireless rear speakers for us to truly experience a surround bubble, but it's not needed! but it would just be ICING on the cake! I highly recommend giving this Soundbar a Try! Sennheiser knows that they are doing! and the price is justified. I paid 2k since it was on sale a week or so ago and it's been amazing and I always look forward to watching movies, tv, youtube, etc.

No soundbar can currently compare to the quality. I own this , after firmware update your good to go. Also , to complete the setup get a good sub. To get best quality you need eARC from your tv.

It's unacceptable for ANY soundbar to present latency and even worse for a $2500 one!

has the latency issue been resolved in firmware? 👀

I have to disagree with you on the lip sync issues,, I recently bought the Sennheiser Ambeo and the Samsung Q85R, and when I watched Netflix via the built-in Tv app via the soundbar, I found NO issues at all. And since most people will watch tv via cable boxes or 4 k Blu ray player( which DEFINITELY has no issues either) so the point you are making is REDUNDANT. Just get a better tv?. If you are spending $2500 on a soundbar your tv needs to be at least the price or more than the soundbar to weed out inferior TVs with crappy connections as a starting point. Who the hell will buy a soundbar costing more than the TV, should be the other way round right?

Do you think the Best Buy Magnolia stores will carry this? Would love to give it a listen.

I ditched my soundbar and connected my Harmon Kardon Aura in right in the center of the room. It's better than HK's latest once and I connected it bluetooth to Alexa. So if I want to play the sound through the tv, I simply say, "Alexa disconnect" and it connect to the tv's sound (which is plugged/wired in direct to the HK Aura). It has a microphone so it acts as a second ear for Alexa.

So from reading your full review - it sounds like every TV that you connected it with was one without eARC compatibility, which means you'd be connecting the ARC port from your TV to the eARC of the Ambeo Soundbar. It kind of makes the "lip-sync" concern a moot point, as eARC supports mandatory lip-sync, making it a non-concern for newer sets. Pretty surprised that wasn't tested, or mentioned in this review.

have they fixed the latency issue by 2023 ? thinking about upgrading to a more audiophile high fidelity soundbar

Primary function of a sound bar is to use it in conjunction with your tv. If there’s a latency issue when it’s used with a tv then It shouldn’t have been rolled out for consumer purchase.

In light of the latency issue one does wonder how this was allowed to leave the factory.

I'd love to see someone do a video on the Sennheiser Ambeo Max vs the Samsung Q990b (can't find one anywhere online).

2 scenarios. Soundbar used is ambeo and tv is SONY XR A95( XR-65A95K) 1. If I connect amazon firestick 4k to hdmi in of the soundbar and then tv's hdmi earc port with hdmi out of soundbar via hdmi 2.1 cable, the sound of, let's say a movie on Netflix, isn't that great. 2. I connect amazon firestick 4k to any hdmi in port of TV. Tv 's hdmi earc port remains connected to hdmi out (earc) port of soundbar via hdmi 2.1 cable. And then I play movies on Netflix app of firestick 4k. Sound is completely different and better. I tested ambeo with these. In the first setting, even ambeo didn't sound great. What are your thoughts?

I have a LG C9 with a Sonos bar and have the unfixable lip sync issue with the image ahead of audio. Googling reveal it's a long standing issue with LG OLED tv. It might be what they are experiencing.

I really want to know how it compares to the Yamaha YSP-5600 Digital Sound Projector

The background music gives me anxiety. I rarely experience anxiety 😳

Great Review! Kindly do a review for the Nakamichi 9.2 SSE. Thanks.

Thanks for this review. i seen few month ago your review about the yamaha YSP5600 . as far as i ve heard, this is one of the best sound bar (5 chanel souround capable) for music and movies. maybe the old panorama 2 (i actually have). how do you compare this senheisser to the mentioned yamaha model? best regards

It would have been really nice to have seen it mounted and to know if it comes with the mount which it should given the price.

Nothing about about "you probably shouldn't buy" it's all about how good this soundbar really is

So you say that there is a delay in sound when sources from TV but you don´t show an example, that makes no sense.

Did the TV have an eARC port also?

Why is the "Ambeo" light so bright, very annoying?

Read a few reviews no one noted the lip-sync issues? Oh well going to demo this by my local dealer anyway before making a decision.

$1699 This is the only soundbar that even has a shot at quality sound.

If there was no lip sync issue the sound bar would be pretty good i guess. Its just very over priced and does not come with a subwoofer? But he major thickness does make it seem like a good quality soundbar from that alone.

I have no problem with lyp sinc with my ambeo

hello and happy new year, I wanted to ask you for information about the possibility of inserting a svs sb 4000 subwoofer to the Sennheiser ambeo sb01 soundbar. do you think it is a good match or maybe it is too excessive? do you think that with the addition of this sub it can improve listening to movies? thank you in advance for your kind reply

I really appreciate your review…. I would like to know whether we can give input (7.1) from any Digital Audio Work station? like ProTools etc?

Boa Noite amigo Quanto que Custa está Sond Bar? Qual é o Modelo de 2023 é também quanto que Custa ? Grande abraço de Toda à Galera do Rio de Janeiro no Brasil

Has the latency issue been fixed yet?

How does this soundbar compare to the Nakamichi Shockwave Ultra 9.2.4 SSE Soundbar?

why is no one doing a comparison between Bose soundbar 900 & Sennheiser Ambeo???

One of the things I liked about the Yamaha was the different sound modes. It has a special mode that can enhance speech by using the "my beam" feature. My wife, who is not a native English speaker found this very useful. In fact, she doesn't like the other modes since, by comparison, the speech get's lost. Does the Ambeo have any special modes that could enhance speech?

I'm trying to choose between the Sennheiser Ambeo, Sonos Arc, and an actual Focal sib evo surround sound. What would you think is the best choice?

Any news on rear channel addition on this one? It would be steel if that happens.

Would a wireless interface work with the sub input/output cable port?

Bose soundbar 900 Vs Ambeo which one we can go for?

hello I would like to ask you if it is possible to connect a receiver to this soundbar and use the soundbar as a center speaker and front speakers. Thank you for your answer

What about yamaha ysp 5600 soundbar?

Can you add (Samsung) rear atmos wireless speakers and connect via bluetooth ?

I just picked up my Sennheiser for $2140 and I was wondering if you guys could do a video talking more about the different settings in the app from light to standard to boost in movie mode in particular and if there are any manual adjustments you guys find beneficial.... I’m trying to figure out what the differences are between the settings and what adjustments you can make for a more optimal experience. Eventually I’ll need to pick up a TV with eArc but till then I am running with an optical cable since I don’t believe anHDMI works. I’m trying to get that overhead affect but I think that comes with movies with Atmos Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

So why not get it again, given latency issue is fixed?

Where did you get that latency thing from? You keep talking about it and you haven’t even demonstrated or showed it. I bought it and I have no latency whatsoever!

No subwoofers? No rear speakers? 😓

You're doing a diservice to Sennheiser by keeping this up or not amending the title, I almost clicked out before reading the comments.

Have you heard the bowers and Wilkins formation bar and how would you compare it with this one. I know for cinema this one is better, but music from the other I felt surpassed this one. Can you tweak this to get their sound quality? What do you think?

I forgot my room and 27 mt 3 do you think that the svs sb 4000 subwoofer is too excessive or is it ideal for this size?

All I needed to hear was "lip sync issue" and I was officially done. Hopefully 2020 will bring some improvements in that department.

Can you please tell me if when listening to music on this with it set to music did you find that sound was mainly coming from the right sided speaker and the left side was a lot quiter

Bruh, 2500 bucks with lip sync issues?

How does this compare to the Yamaha YSP5600 ?? Thank you

Surely the sync issue can be fixed via firmware update. I'm no expert. My TV has setting to alter sound video sync option anyway. Whilst I take the point entirely that this shouldn't be an issue out of the box... Ambi missing something by suggesting your other hardware should be able to compensate?

Can you please review the Creative Sonic Carrier X-Fi soundbar and compare it with Ambeo and give us your feedback? Thanks.

Seriously no AptX??? I ended up impulse buying a Bose Smart Sound 300 Soundbar. It’s impressive for its size, but I refuse to further invest in an overpriced proprietary subwoofer and mediocre audio system. In the end I wall mounted my Audioengine HD3’s, and paired up using AptX Bluetooth... So far it’s the best I’ve heard, not impressed with soundbars whatsoever. Unfortunately I bought the Bose 300 from a smaller store, and their refund policy is absolute ****.

I could do a lot better with $2500.00 than this soundbar.

Nice review. Im curious how well it does with intermediate surround formats like dolby true hd and Dts-hd which youll find on the majorityon bluray movies and while not as advanced as the latent formats brings a substantial improvement in audio quality compared to the older dolby digital and dts. Atmos is backwards compatible off course but still, would be great to know if theres some compatibility issue or bigger drop in quality since the soundbar scene still is a bit ned and uncharted territory.

Any idea where the latency issue arises? (The sound signal lags the video, I'm figuring.) Is this the case with all interconnections or only HDMI? Was any comparison done to other audio outputs/inputs? Is this a TV issue or the soundbar? (Did they try any other TVs?) Any variability with the signal source (player, cable box, AppleTV box?) Was this present with Atmos-encoded material or others as well? Latency is certainly something that needs to be explained if not fixed, given the pricing expectations Sennheiser has established.

I have a bose 700. Will need another one for my basement. Wondering how ambeo fair against bose 700?

No physical rear channels otherwise it would be on my list, come on Nakamichi, get that Dragon out!

Even if it had no issues with latency, I wouldn't buy something that frigging big.

Come on yamaha ysp 5100 was doing this 7 years ago...and the current replacement for 5100 is doing still..........

Anybody know about that lip sync lag issue? I was going to buy this but now I’m not sure. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Nakamichi 9.2.4 is 1.2k and has no issues. At 2.5k senheisser needs to get their s... together.

its an insane money for a sound bar

Worst product spin ever? Other reviewers have commented on the etched brightness and sibilant highs due to its metal dome tweeters. Great for movie dialogue and special effects like breaking glass but terrible for music. Did you even compare this to anything else in the $1,000 range?

If someone is seriously considering a soundbar they're doing so because of its tiny footprint. It's a niche product trying to appeal to a mainstream audience. At that price, one could go with Q950's + center channel and be much better off.

is sennheiser ambeo better than JBL BAR 9.1?

how does it compare to those kefs?

It should have been useful to make a test around a few seconds....

It’s still a sound bar. 5.1 will always sound better.

Ryan, Is there a way to work around having a TV that doesn't have E-ARC? Like can I hook up through an XBox or do I definitely have to have an E-ARC TV in order to get Atmos to work through one of these soundbars or the Samsung Q90R?

No sound-bar should have lip sync issues, end of story. That’s a fail and and an expensive one at that.

How does it compare to Sony HT-ST5000? Have you tried to ask Sennheiser if they are aware of the syn issue?

Never had an issue with lip sync..so sorry you are wrong. Update your review.

SIR RYAN WANIATA PLEASE REVIEW NEW KEF Q SERIES SPEAKERS.

So this is totally not for video game consoles. For video game we need the sound to be in sync

Can you say the best soundbar?

Does this soundbar have a headphone jack?

How on earth was the latency not picked up during testing ? All the development and research has been completely undermined by releasing it whilst not perfect. They’ll end up discounting the hell out of these, even after the fix that’s hopefully coming

Hi, thanks for the review. I’m considering a cinema system... would a Sonos playbar with a sub and two speakers at the back have the same “3D” sound - like all round sound as this? You mention like rain drops coming from over your head! Thanks in advance!

Just use the HDMI inputs... You shouldn’t even be getting this bar right now if you don’t plan to run your devices through the bar. ....Atmos/DTS:X does not carry through HDMI 2.0 ARC ports!

Hi so I am looking to the sennheiser and add a sub woofer But I am also thinking of the bose 700 plus sub en 700 rears I heard a demo in an audio store the retailer played a Dolby atmos demo and I know bose has no Dolby atmos but it definitely created the atmos effect when I heard that leaf above me So what is your opinion the bose or sennheiser please help me 🙏

So if I connect this to C9 which has eARC should I have lip sync issue or not, I didn't get that part right? If yes, where should I connect the sources, to the bar or to the TV to utilize this feature?

This being advertised is outdated . Latency issues have been corrected with an update . So your video is kill-joy .Do your homework next time .You should be fair minded.

For that level of cost I would rather go with a full surround sound system.

Its blocking the screen man that's too big

Shame... I was actually looking to buy this. I know I can get a full out Atmos surround for less but I'm in the market for the best sound from the least amount of wiring possible. That's why a soundbar is better for me, just a shame this has that back breaker issue.